Could a 5 handicap putt better than Adam Scott?

[AFcelica]

Is one single 5 handicap somewhere in the world a better putter than AS? Probably. Is your typical good putting, poor ball striking 5 handicap a better putter than AS? No

 

/thread

[Malvern]

Having watched Adam Scott over many years, there is a reason he gets a start as the "model" for poor putting, its the horrible 4-5 ft misses that make you cringe not his whole putting game.

 

With absolutely zero facts to back it up, I think he has weeks were he is a poor pace putter, this manifest itself in the small misses. He is streaky at times, so does have good weeks, when he smokes everyone.

[sleezyt]

I'll add that the championship greens that we see on the Tour are a different animal than what most amateurs play.

 

I play Torrey Pines once in a while and a GIR there doesn't mean anything since the greens are so big. It's a different game once you're on the greens.

True and i imagine the speed would take adjusting too. But seeing els 5 putt from two ft and rory bash it back and forth 5 times doesnt help their case. Dont know many players in general who would do that. The test would have to be on greens somewhere in the middle like 10 stimp

 

[divebreck]

Not a chance!!!

[Spongerob]

I think it's very possible. Putting and ball striking are such different skills. Ball striking is an extremely athletic task. Putting just isn't. World class ball striking and mediocre putting can get still get you on tour. See Graham Delait.

World class putting and mediocre ball striking is actually not that rare. Great putters can hide anywhere. Every club in the world has a few of those. You can't hide a great ball striker. I wouldn't doubt there could be a hundred 5 handicap golfers who could putt as good or better than Adam Scott. However you will never see, in 1000 iterations of this universe, a 5 handicap who could ball strike in the same league as Adam.

[jslane57]

I think it's very possible. Putting and ball striking are such different skills. Ball striking is an extremely athletic task. Putting just isn't. World class ball striking and mediocre putting can get still get you on tour. See Graham Delait.

World class putting and mediocre ball striking is actually not that rare. Great putters can hide anywhere. Every club in the world has a few of those. You can't hide a great ball striker. I wouldn't doubt there could be a hundred 5 handicap golfers who could putt as good or better than Adam Scott. However you will never see, in 1000 iterations of this universe, a 5 handicap who could ball strike in the same league as Adam.

I agree with this, and it's why I do think there are 5 hcps who can put putt A.S., but with one exception. Putting is extremely athletic. It takes super eye/hand coordination. It takes very good imagination. The "athletes" I know who are poor putters use the "takes no athletic ability" excuse, but they're wrong, they just don't (or can't) learn how to be creative enough to putt well. It's OK to treat putting as an athletic endeavor where perfect contact, perfect speed control, and imagination all merge. Then it is easier to simply be in awe of great putting, as it's not a non-athletic fluke...

[swing thoughts]

I see the point of the OP, but I must say that I am fairly certain that there are very few 5 handicaps who can do anything on the golf course as well as Adam Scott or any other tour player. I'm a low-single digit and pretty good putter, and am pretty sure that I would have to be lights out to putt better than him on his normal (poor) day. I've played a couple of courses they play on tour and my best score from the PGA tees is 84, about ten strokes above what I shoot on "normal" course. Throw in the increased speed of the greens they play, and I just don't see it happening.

 

Whenever I start getting cocky after shooting a couple of 69's or something, I eventually end up getting paired with a guy better than me. And watching him play up close reminds me that although I'm a pretty good golfer, I'm not a good as the thousands and thousands of players with lower handicaps than me. The lower the handicap, the greater the separation in talent and ability. For instance, a 30 may be able to beat a 25 1/3 or 1/4 of the time, but a 5 is almost never going to beat a scratch. And a scratch is almost never going to beat a guy in last place on the Web.com tour. You see where I'm going with this; those guys are so much better than us that it even the worst on tour at any given skill on his worst day is porbably going to be better than a 5 on his best.

[mystic]

The best putter out there might not be on the PGA tour.

Yes, I know people who are better putters than Adam Scott but they might never be at his level of ball striking

[MtlJeff]

You could convince me a +1 or something maybe could putt better than the worst putter on tour. I've seen 65yr olds who still break par on 6800 yd courses despite driving it 225 because their short games are incredible

 

But a 5 handicap wouldn't be a 5 if he putted better than even the worst pro. His ballstriking would have to be horrifying.

 

These types of players are more myth than reality. like the 13 index who works it both ways but has no short game

[farmer]

AS is not a great putter for a hugely successful touring professional. The 5 may be a phenomenal putter for a decent club player. The gulf between is both wide and deep. If you need brain surgery, do you go to a good family practitioner or a neurosurgeon?

[dlygrisse]

AS is not a great putter for a hugely successful touring professional. The 5 may be a phenomenal putter for a decent club player. The gulf between is both wide and deep. If you need brain surgery, do you go to a good family practitioner or a neurosurgeon?

 

AS has a shaky scalpel

[vanillafunk616]

No chance. He's ranked 196 in the world. He's only bad compared to the best. How many people do you know in life that are top 200 at anything?

[Spongerob]

Adam is a top 200 golfer. Not putter. Tour greens are a lot tougher than club greens. No need to tell me that. I have experienced it. But great putters are more common than believed because sometimes it comes in the form of an 82 that should have been a 95. And they can adapt on the greens better than most of us. I'm pretty close to scratch and there are 13 year old kids at my club who putt much better than me. That's the thing about putting...anyone can excel at it. men, women and kids can be great at it. Putting excludes no one. Ball striking...not so much. Maybe 1 out of 1000 humans are even capable of hitting it 300+ let alone striping it all day. My own brother, who has never broken 80 is a putting savant. Makes everything inside 5 feet, most inside 10, never 3 putts and is pissed off if he misses inside 25 feet. He easily takes 8 putts less than me per round.

As a final point I have spoken to a major champion about exactly this. He is considered one of the best clutch putters of all time. He told me he peaked at putting at age 15. His putting on tour is not even close to what he could do as a junior. If I dropped his name you wouldn't believe it because he is still a great putter.

Great ball striking is extremely rare. It will get you on tour. Great putting is not as rare, and it shows up from many unlikely looking people. But without ball striking it will only get you invited to a lot of scrambles.

[Shilgy]

^^No one is saving 13 strokes a round putting.

 

Someone mentioned DeLaet. He is not a good putter "by tour standards".

 

I'll attempt to end this this way... Adam Scott is about a quarter stroke per round worse than Spieth this year. Can the 5 cap beat him putting? Anyone know a scratch that can putt better than Jordan?

[NoTalentLefty]

Anyone who thinks this way needs a reality check on their putting ability.

[nikegal]

Hahaha, this is cute :) A 5 handicap? Out putting Adam? Hahaha, cute :)

[Shilgy]

Hahaha, this is cute :) A 5 handicap? Out putting Adam? Hahaha, cute :)

Not just any five though Maddie. This is your prototypical tournament tested wrx five that would be an 18 if he couldn't putt. :)

 

For the record I have no idea why some think this is anywhere near possible.

[CasualLie]

I especially like how some people will compare putting between the 5 and AS completely out of the context of the game; as if that matters. The OP set the context and some of you have gone off the deep end. Ya, I get it, it's a discussion forum, but some of you are trying to rationalize a 5 could putt better than AS!

 

What some people conveniently forget is Scott's putting stats come from within the context of tournament conditions and that doesn't just mean faster greens with tricky reads, it also means situations like tee shots keep hitting the rough so hitting close is a huge challenge, missing greens and grinding out 6 footers for par, flirting with the cut line, flirting with the lead...and so on. What pressure does a 5 know? I need this for four pars in a row?! If I miss this I'll lose the 5 hole carryover in $1 skins?!?!

 

The mental context between what Adam Scott does for a living and what the 5 does on their toughest day is planets apart.

 

Do you know who putts better than Adam Scott on the practice greens and in casual rounds??? Adam Scott. And he would take money from any 5 on the practice green using a short putter.

 

My sister's neighbor has an uncle who sees at Starbucks all the time his 70 year old friend who works as a starter at the local muni who plays on his days off and he makes everything he looks at inside 10 feet. BFD

[vanillafunk616]

I especially like how some people will compare putting between the 5 and AS completely out of the context of the game; as if that matters. The OP set the context and some of you have gone off the deep end. Ya, I get it, it's a discussion forum, but some of you are trying to rationalize a 5 could putt better than AS!

 

What some people conveniently forget is Scott's putting stats come from within the context of tournament conditions and that doesn't just mean faster greens with tricky reads, it also means situations like tee shots keep hitting the rough so hitting close is a huge challenge, missing greens and grinding out 6 footers for par, flirting with the cut line, flirting with the lead...and so on. What pressure does a 5 know? I need this for four pars in a row?! If I miss this I'll lose the 5 hole carryover in $1 skins?!?!

 

The mental context between what Adam Scott does for a living and what the 5 does on their toughest day is planets apart.

 

Do you know who putts better than Adam Scott on the practice greens and in casual rounds??? Adam Scott. And he would take money from any 5 on the practice green using a short putter.

 

My sister's neighbor has an uncle who sees at Starbucks all the time his 70 year old friend who works as a starter at the local muni who plays on his days off and he makes everything he looks at inside 10 feet. BFD

 

100%. The real question is how much worse would a 5 handicap putt in a pga event/major. That's the real thing being underestimated. You can't compare your putting on the practice green to what Adam Scott does in the us open.

[sdandrea]

Could a 5 handicap compete on the PGA Tour and make truckloads of money and win The Masters? Ummmmm, no.

[Perrkka]

I think there is a bigger chance to find a 36 hcp that will out put a 5 hcp than a 5 hcp that will out put AS.

[Hawkeye77]

Not today at the PGA!